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OREGON: 



ITS 



RESOURCES, SOIL, CLIMATE, PRODUCTIONS; 



CONTAINING SOME FACTS FOIi THE 

CONSIDERATION OF THOSE DESIRING TO IMMIGRATE TO 

A MILD CLIMATE. 



COMPILED BY THE BOARD O^ 1 STATISTICS, IMMIGRATION, AND LABOR EXCHANGE, 
OF 1 ORTLAND, ORE ,0N, REPUBLISHED FOR DISTRIBUTION m HON. II. W. CORBETT. 



JACKSONVILLE, OREGON: 
OREGON SENTINEL OFFICE PRINT. 
71. 



OREGON: 

ITS RESOURCES, SOIL, CLIMATE, AND PRODUCTIONS. 



Introductory Remarks. 

The emigrant about leaving his home in the old country or in the eastern States, to 
seek another in a more favored locality, may probably wish to know beforehand some- 
thing of the different sections of the United States toward which the attention of 
emigrants is being directed. In view of this fact, the Board of Statistics, Immigration, 
and Labor Exchange of Portland, Oregon, presents to that class of people the following 
facts relative to the State of Oregon and its resources. 

To the laboring classes in Europe seeking a home in America, and to the mechanic, 
farmer, and workingmea of all classes in the Atlantic States, crowding in thickly- 
settled communities, where every avenue of employment is filled to overflowing, and 
where land is held at prices beyond the reach of poor men : to these people Oregon 
offers a field for employment, industry, and enterprise, where land is cheap and the 
wages of the laborer high, and where the industrious and prudent are compensated 
with comfort and a competency in old age. 

General Character of the Soil. 

The principal agricultural districts of Oregon are the valleys of the Willamette, the 
Umpqua, and Rogue river, all in the western part of the State. The soil of these 
valleys is remarkably fertile, producing abundantly every variety of grain, grass, fruits, 
and vegetables known to a temperate climate. The best wheat lands yield an average 
of thirty bushels per acre, one year with another. Frequently a yield of forty or fifty 
bushels per acre is obtained. There are farms in the Willamette valley which have 
been cultivated in wheat fifteen years in succession, without manure of any kind, and 
without any apparent diminution of the yield. It is not the custom of farmers to manure 
their wheat-fields ; they do not need it. Oats yield a crop of from fifty to eighty bushels 
per acre. Three tons of timothy hay per acre is the ordinary yield of the rich meadow 
bottoms. Apple, pear, and other fruit trees come to full bearing in three years from 
transplanting. Volunteer crops of wheat and barley are frequently raised; that is, a 
field is seeded with nothing but the grains scattered during the process of harvesting, 
and is suffered to lie over without any further cultivation until the succeeding harvest, 
producing a fair crop. Oregon wheat ranks as first quality in all the markets of the 
world, and Oregon flour is quoted in the New York market reports at the highest rates. 

The eastern part of Oregon, consisting of high rolling prairies and table lands, is 
especially adapted to grazing purposes. The most nutritious varieties of wild grass 
grow everywhere in abundance. Cattle, sheep, and horses may be grazed the year 
round. It was the custom of the Indians of this section in former years to raise large 
herds of horses without providing any feed for them for the winter. The settlers in the 
same region rarely feed their cattle during the winter. Timber and water of good 
quality are found in plenty in most localities. Several large bodies of agricultural land 
of the best quality are still unoccupied. So far as the soil has been tested in this section 
it is found to produce abundantly grain of all kinds, fruit, and vegetables. Many of 
the rich valleys of this section appear to be better adapted to the production of some 
kinds of vegetables and fruits than even the best localities of the western portion of the 
State, while the high prairies lying at the foot of the mountain ranges have been found 
to be unsurpassed for the production of wheat. 

.Western Oregon is well timbered. This is particularly the case with the mountain 
and hilly region by which the three great valleys of this section are inclosed. Timbered 
lands in places convenient to towns or to navigation have frequently been made to bring 
a return of $250 per acre realized from the timber alone; not only sufficient to put the 

3 



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land under cultivation, but paying a handsome profit besides. This kind of land, when 
brought under cultivation, yields excellent crops, and is lasting in productiveness. 

Nearly all parts of the State are supplied with small streams and living springs of 
water in an abundance rarely equaled ; not only for agricultural, but for manufacturing 
purposes. The purity of the water, no less than the purity of atmosphere, contributes 
to the general healthfulness of the country. 

Climate. 

Oregon has an equability of climate unknown in like latitudes on the Atlantic sea- 
board. Situated in the latitude of Canada and Vermont, it has a summer cooler than 
that of Quebec and a winter as warm as that of Norfolk ; with neither the bitter frosts 
of the one place, nor the burning heat of the other. The ocean winds temper the cli- 
mate to a remarkable salubrity. Cattle live and fatten in the open fields and prairies 
during the whole winter. At Portland, on the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude, 
flowers bloomed and flourished in the open air during every month of the past year. 

The Cascade range of mountains divides the State into eastern and western divisions ; 
each division having its own distinct climatic peculiarities. The western part, lying 
between the mountains and the sea, is supplied with abundant rains. But little snow 
falls except on the summits of the mountain range. Winter is short, mild, and wet. 
Farm operations receive but little interruption from cold or freezing weather. Summer 
is mild and pleasant, with generally about two months dry weather in July and August. 
Excessive heat or severe and protracted drought is unknown. 

Eastern Oregon has a dry climate, with a winter quite cold but short and dry. The 
snow-fall is light except on the highest ranges of hills ; in the valleys there is frequently 
none at all. Stock-raisers usually graze their stock on the open prairies the year round. 
Abundant rains fall in spring and autumn. Summer is warm and dry without the excess- 
ive summer heat incident to most dry climates. A fresh mountain air circulates with 
freedom over the table land and prairies, and not only neutralizes the effect of the sum- 
mer heat, but dispels every tendency toward malarious diseases. 

The healthfulness of the climate of all parts of the State is a fact attested by all 
persons famiiiar with the subject. On this point there has never been any difference of 
opinion. Violent tornadoes, hail-storms, earthquakes, and like phenomena, so common 
in some parts of the world, are unknown in the history of the country. 

The climate that braces and invigorates the human frame spreads abroad over the 
vegetation of the country an equally wholesome influence. Its effects are to be seen 
in the luxuriant growth of the forests of western Oregon, as well as in the fruit, grass, 
and grain-fields of the country. The quality no less than the quantity of farm pro- 
ducts is affected by its genial influence. Wheat, oats, and other grains attain a greater 
perfection and a greater weight per bushel than is common in most other States of the 
Union. 

The following table, compiled from the reports of the Smithsonian Institute, shows 
the mean temperature for a series of years of three important points in the State : 
Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia river; Corvallis, in the center of the Willamette 
valley ; and Dalles City, at the eastern base of the Cascade range of mountains : 

Astoria. Corvallis. Dalles. 

Number of years of observation 11.5 11.6 3* 

Mean spring temperature 51.16 52.19 53.00 

Mean summer temperature 61.36 67.13 70.36 

Mean autumn temperature 53.55 53.41 52.21 

Mean winter temperature 42 43 39.27 35.59 

Mean temperature whole time 52.13 53.00 52.79 

From McCormick's Almanac for 1870, published at Portland, it is. ascertained that 
during the year ending August 31, 1889, there were in the Willamette valley, 42 rainy 
days ; 73 showery days ; 250 days clear dry weather ; 103 rainy nights, and 262 dry 
nights. 

Eian&s far Settlement and Iiow Obtained. 

Publics lands are to be obtained in nearly all parts of the State. A citizen of the 
United States, or foreigner declaring his intention to become such, can locate them 
under the homestead laws, and by occupation and cultivation for five years acquire a 
title free of cost. Public lands can also be obtained by purchase at $1 25 per acre. 
Eastern Oregon has millions of acres of land subject to settlement, a great deal of it 
agricultural land of the best quality. In the western part of the State, also, are several 
large tracts still vacant. One valley lying in Clatsop and Tillamook counties would 
afford homes for five hundred families. 



Price of Improved Farming Lands. 

On tho books in the office of the Board of Immigration there are twenty-five farms 
offered for sale, at prices ranging as follows : one at $25 per acre ; three at $20; one at 
$19 25; one at $14 25; one at $13; one at $12 ; two at $11 50; one at $10; two at 
$0 50; two at $9 26 ; three at $7 50; one at $G GG ; two at SG ; one at $5 75 ; two at 
$4 50; one at $3 50; average, $10 91. The books of the real-estate agents exhibit 
twenty farms for sale in Multnomah county, at an average price of $11 per acre, and 
twenty in Clackamas county, at an average of $8 per acre ; highest price $27 50 ; lowest 
$3. In Yamhill county the same firm has ten farms for sale at an average price of $7 
per acre ; highest, $18; lowest, 4; and in Washington county they have forty- two farms, 
at an average rate of $7 50 per acre. The above figures represent the value of farming 
lands in the northern and central part of the Willamette valley as nearly as it is possi- 
ble to arrive at it. Unimproved, timbered lands throughout the same region are held 
at from $1 25 to $4 per acre, except immediately around the city of Portland, and per- 
haps some other towns, where the rapid growth of the town and increasing value of 
town property gives a value to adjacent lands, for homestead and other purposes, much 
higher than for mere farming purposes. The wide range in the prices of the foregoing 
list is to be attributed mainly to difference in improvements. 

Improved farms may be bought at from five to twenty dollars per acre. Immigrants 
short of means rarely have any trouble in renting farms with stock, seed, and imple- 
ments furnished, giving a share of their product for their use. 

The highly productive nature of the soil renders the country capable of sustaining a 
population vastly in excess of the present number of inhabitants. The Willamette 
valley alone has the capacity to support a million inhabitants. Its present population 
does not exceed 80,000. 

Opportunities for tlie Working Classes. 

The following statement indicates the rate of wages paid, in gold coin, for hired help 
of different kinds: Bakers, $50 per month, with board; blacksmiths, $3 50 to $5 per 
day; boot-makers, $3 to $4 per day ; bricklayers, $5 to $0 per day ; butchers, $40 to 
$60 per month, with board; cabinet-makers and carpenters, $3 to $4 per day; clerks, 
$40 to $100 per month ; cooks, $30 to $60 per month and board; common laborers, $2 
to $2 50 per day ; farm hands, $25 to $35 per month and board ; gardeners, $50 to $60 
per month and board ; hod-carriers, $3 to $3 50 per day ; machinists and molders, $3 50 
to $4 per day; millwrights, $6 per day; female house servants, $25 to $40 per month 
and board; nurses, $25 to $40 per month and board. Other branches of labor are paid 
upon about the same scale. 

Beyond a doubt no country in the world offers such abundant rewards to the laboring 
classes. The industrious and prudent man soon attains to competency and independ- 
ence. A want of success is the fate of the idle alone. One evidence illustrating the 
general condition of the poorer classes in the State is, that there is no pauper institu- 
tion in the State except an insane asylum. 

Facilities for Educational and Religions Instruction. 

Ample facilities for the education of the children of the working classes are provided 
by levying a tax on the taxable property in every county. Public schools, supported 
by public funds, are established in all save the most sparsely settled localities. Private 
schools, academies, and seminaries, competent to impart the higher branches of educa- 
tion, are maintained in all the most populous towns and counties. The leading denom- 
inations of the Christian church have their congregations in every town and village in 
the State. No family in Oregon need be without the advantages to be derived from 
these institutions. 

General Cliaracter of the People. 

Oregon has a population embracing people of all nationalities, the American predom- 
inating. The German, French, English, Irish, and Scotch elements are largely repre- 
sented. The people, as a community, are enterprising and progressive in public po'icv, 
hospitable toward foreigners, and just and liberal in their transactions with cac') other. 
In morals, the standard is fully up to that of any of the older States. All religious 
creeds and political opinions are protected alike, both by the laws and public opinion. 

Cost of Ijiving. 

A genial climate and a soil of extraordinary fertility render all the products of Lh ■ 
farm abundant and cheap. Such articles of foreign production a3 enter into general use 
are usually sold at about the same rates as in the eastern State3. The following prices, 



6 

taken from the retail market report of the Daily Oregoaian of October 1, 1869, 
afford an indication of the cost at Portland of the principal articles of household 
consumption: 

Apples, per bushel 50@ 75 Cheese, per pound 25® 30 

Pears, per bushel «• 50@$1 09 Eggs, fresh, per dozen 40 

Dried apples, per pound 10 Honey, per pound 25 

Dried pears, per pound 10 Lard, choice, per pound 18a 

Dried peaches, per pound 12i Butter, fresh roll 37 

Coffee, green, per pound 25 Butter, good 

Sugar, crushed, per pound 20 Butter, ordinary 30 

Sugar, pulverized, per pound 20 Flour, first quality, per barrel $6 00 

Sugar, brown, per pound 15@ 16 Flour, medium $5 00@ 5 50 

Sirup, in kegs, per gallon $1 121 Chickens, per dozen 4 00© 5 00 

Tea, Japan, per pound $1 00@* 125 Codfish, per pound 18@ 20 

Tea, black, per pound 75@ 1 25 Saltsalinon 8@ 10 

Tea, young hyson, per pound 1 50 Bsets . 1 

Hams 22 Carrots 1 

Hams, sugar-cured 25 Onions 2} 

Side bacon, clear 18 Turnips 2 

Shoulders, clear 12? Potatoes, per bushel 75 

Laboring men obtain board at hotels and boarding-houses at five dollars per week. In 
the cities and towns tenement houses may be rented at from five to fifteen dollars per 
month. Building lots in the principal towns, suitable for homesteads for workingmen, 
can be bought at from $50 to $200. Lumber, the principal building material, is cheap. 
A house in which a family could be made comfortable may be built for $250 or $800. 
Thus laboring men, by industry and economy, can generally secure homesteads for 
themselves in a few years. It is frequently the case that workingmen, by obtaining a 
home for themselves in a new and growing community, lay the foundation of a fortune 
in future by the natural increase in the value of their property alone. 

Facilities foi- tile Transportation of Products, Travel, a'nd Trade. 

Oregon has two large navigable rivers. The Columbia forms the northern boundary 
of the State, and is navigable at all seasons of the year for sea-going vessels one hun- 
dred miles from its mouth. Regularly established lines of river steamers ply its upper 
waters to points 350 miles distant from the ocean, affording facilities for travel and 
traffic to eastern Oregon, the Territories of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The 
Willamette river, flowing through the center of the valley of that name, is the chief 
artery of trade and travel for that region. It empties into the Columbia about 100 
miles from the sea, and is navigable for ocean steamships and sailing vessels to Portland 
12 miles from its mouth. Above Portland the Willamette is navigable to the head of 
the valley, a distance of 150 miles, affording a safe and quick mode of transportation 
for the products of the largest agricultural district in the State. The State is - traversed 
from north to south by a great public highway, connecting Portland with the Sacra- 
mento valley in California, and passing through the Willamette, Urnpqua, and Rogue 
river valleys their entire length. A line of stages carrying the United States mails 
passes over the road twice every day in the year. A daily line of mail coaches con- 
nects Umatilla on the upper Columbia with the Pacific railroad at Keiton, in Utah, 
passing through northeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho. 

Two lines of railway are in course of construction from Portland south, one on each 
side of the Willamette river. Railway communication with California and the eastern 
States is regarded as an event the accomplishment of which may be looked for in the 
near future. 

Pre seal Prosperity of t3ie Country. 

The area of land under cultivation increases steadily from year to year. Roads are 
being made and bridges built to meet the wants of the country. The navigation of the 
river is being improved by private as well as by public enterprise. The commercial and 
manufacturing resources of the State are being developed in proportion to the means 
and capabilities of a new country. The main business points are increasing in popu- 
lation and extending their trade. As an evidence of the general prosperity of the 
country, a leading merchant of Douglas county reports that the people of that county 
have realized the present year over $800,000 in gold by the sale of their surplus live 
stock, bacon, and wool. The county contains a population of less than 10,000 inhabit- 
ants, men, women, and children. 

Taxation. 

The constitution of the State prohibits the creation of a large State debt ; hence, 
there are no large sums of money to be raised annually to pay interest, and no onerou3 



taxes levied upon the industry of the country for such purposes. County and muni- 
cipal governments are economically administered. Many of the counties are out of 
debt entirely ; none of them are deeply in debt. 

Mineral Resources. 

Extensive beds of iron ore have been found in Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, and 
Clackamas counties, in the northwestern part of the State. One of them has been 
opened at Oswego, six miles south of Portland, and furnaces erected for smelting. The 
iron produced is of excellent quality. It enters into general use with the different 
founderies in the State, and has been shipped to San Francisco in large quantities. 
Examinations made of similar deposits in the same and adjoining counties prove them 
to be inexhaustible in extent. 

In Coos county, on the coast, veins of coal have been extensively worked for a num- 
ber cf years. Coal has been found in large quantities in Clackamas, Clatsop, Colum- 
bia, Douglas, and Jackson counties. Extensive copper mines have been discovered in 
Josephine county, in the southern part of the State. 

These resources have scarcely. been touched by way of development. They are cal- 
culated, at some future day, when Oregon arrives at a stage of development propor- 
tionate to that of her sister States, to furnish employment for capital and labor to an 
almost unlimited extent. 

Placer mines are being worked for gold in Jackson, Josephine, and Douglas counties, 
in the southern part of the State, and Grant and Baker counties in eastern Oregon. 
Those of southern Oregon were opened as early as 1850, and have not only afforded 
employment to a great many men, but have yielded immense sums of the precious 
metals. They are still being regularly and profitably worked. The placers of eastern 
Oregon have been worked continuously since 18G1, and are still yielding rich returns 
to the industrious miner. They are sufficiently extensive to afford employment to a 
large number of people for many years to come. 

The annual product of the gold placers of the State is estimated at $2,000,000 by 
those whose business enables them to form a correct opinion on the subject. 

Manufacturing Resources. 

In the various branches of manufacturing industry Oregon has barely made a com- 
mencement. Combining a soil of unrivaled fertility with great resources of timber, 
iron ore, and coal, with water-power in all parts of the State, her capabilities in this 
particular are practically without limit. Six woolen mills are in operation in different 
sections of the State, manufacturing woolen goods of superior quality, at prices which 
place them in general use with the people, forcing out of the home market a great 
many imported articles. One of them, located at Salem, consumes from 2-3,000 to 
30,000 pounds of wool per month, and furnishes employment regularly for about one 
hundred persons. 

An oil mill is in operation at Salem and a paper mill near Oregon City. There are 
several iron founderies and machine shops at Portland and two or three at other points. 
They have facilities for the manufacture of all kinds of castings and machinery neces- 
sary to supply the wants of the people. Flouring mills of large capacity, located in the 
wheat-growing districts, manufacture flour that finds its way into the principal markets 
of the world. It is sought after in foreign markets, as being of superior quality, com- 
manding the highest prices. 

These branches of manufactures are just beginning to be developed. The natural 
resources of the country in minerals, timber, and agricultural products afford the raw 
material for the establishment and operation of a hundred others; and with an 
increased population and increased facilities for transportation, they are capable of an 
almost indefinite expansion. 

liumbcring Resources. 

Many parts of the State are covered with a dense growth of timber. This is par- 
ticularly the case with the mountain range near the coast and the foot-hills of the 
Cascade mountains. The varieties are fir, cedar, spruce, pine, hemlock, and redwood, 
as well as several varieties of hard wood — oak, ash, maple, &c. The different varieties 
of fir, cedar, spruce, and hemlock furnish material for extensive lumbering establish- 
ments. The timber is of the finest quality. The trees grow straight and tall ; a height 
of 2-50 feet is not uncommon. Abundant water-power, in most places, affords facilities- 
for converting the timber into lumber, and superior facilities for shipping renders the 
commodity always marketable. Oregon has supplied the San Francisco market almost 
exclusively, for many years, with certain kinds of lumber. Lumber, timber, and ships' 



8 

spars are exported to the Sandwich Islands, South America, Mexico, and China. From 
tables taken from the Portland Directory for the year 1868, it appears that the value of 
lumber shipped from the Columbia river alone, during that year, amounted to an aggre- 
gate of nearly $900,000. The shipments from other points on the coast south of the 
Columbia would probably amount to as much more. 

Fislieries. 

Among the natural resources of the State awaiting development the salmon fisheries 
of the Columbia river assume an important part. Until recently they claimed but 
little attention from capitalists and business men. Within the last three or four years, 
however, the business has grown into importance, and now employs a capital of several 
hundred thousand dollars, and during the fishing season affords employment to a large 
number of men. The business of cooking and canning the salmon ready for use has 
grown to be a large and profitable one. The cans of cooked fish, containing one and 
two pounds each, are packed in cases for shipment, and find a market in San Fran- 
cisco, New York, and other large markets. Three of the canning companies, in the 
prosecution of their business, used revenue stamps to the amount of $10,000 during the 
past year. "The Statistics of Oregon," a pamphlet published by authority of the State 
Agricultural Society, estimates, upon the authority of a gentleman largely interested m 
the fisheries, the total value of the catch for the current year at $270,000. 

For the year 1868 the shipments of salmon from Portland amounted to an aggregate 
as follows: 2,380 barrels ; 4,433 half barrels ; 4,991 cases, and 1,554 packages. During 
the first nine months of 1869 there were shipped 15,000 cases. 

Territory. 

Oregon lies between the 42d and 46th parallels of north latitude, and between the 
117th meridian west from Greenwich and the Pacific ocean. The State has an average 
length, east and west, of about 350 miles, and a breadth, north and south, of 275 miles, 
and contains 96,250 square miles, or 61,600,000 acres of land. It embraces more terri- 
tory than the States of New York and Pennsylvania combined. In population it has 
not to exceed 120,000 inhabitants, while the two States just named contained, accord- 
ing to the census of 1860, an aggregate population of nearly 7,000,000. Of the entire 
area of the State, about 25,000,000 acres are adapted to agriculture and about the same 
quantity to grazing purposes, the remainder being mountain land, valuable only for its 
immense forests of timber. Of the agricultural and grazing lands, not over six per 
cent, has passed from the Government into the hands of private parties, and the 
quantity under cultivation would not exceed two per cent. 

Tlxe City of Portland. 

Portland, the commercial capital of Oregon, is also the commercial depot whence 
the people of a region larger than New England and the middle States combined 
derive their supplies, including a large portion of the Territories of Washington, Idaho, 
and Montana. The city is situated on the west bank of the Willamette river, 12 miles 
from its mouth. It contains a population of about 10,000 inhabitants, is substantially 
built, has well-graded and well-improved streets, good wharves and warehouses, and is 
well supplied with water and gas. According to the Directory for 1869 there are in 
Portland 44 attorneys, 1 assay office, 2 architects, 3 dealers in agricultural imple- 
ments, 4 banking houses, 3 dealers in stationery, 9 dealers in boots and shoes, 6 
bakeries, 3 bag factories, 9 commission merchants, 5 clothing dealers, 4 crockery deal- 
ers, 11 tobacco dealers, 7 drug stores, 5 founderies, 7 furniture dealers, 32 dealers in 
groceries and provisions, 4 hardware stores, 14 hotels, 9 livery stables, 27 retail dry- 
* goods stores, 9 wholesale dry-goods stores, 3 produce dealers, 3 daily newspapers, 7 
real estate agents, 2 railroad companies, 6 stove and tinware stores, 4 wagon and car- 
riage makers, and a variety of other business houses, only the most important being 
enumerated here. 

The Willamette river is navigable to Portland at all seasons for sea going vessels. 
A line of first-class ocean steamships runs regularly between Portland and San Fran- 
cisco, making three trips per month, and another line communicates regularly with 
Victoria, on Vancouver Island and the different towns on Puget sound. Portland, by 
means of sailing vessels, enjoys direct trade with New York, Liverpool, the Sandwich 
Islands, and China, affording advantages for the importation of foreign merchandise 
and for the exportation to distant markets of Oregon produce. 

According to the Portland Directory for 1809. the total value of produce shipped 
from Portland during the year 1868 amounted to $2,780,000. The amount of bullion 
shipped to San Francisco for the same period was $3,677,850. The market review of 



9 

the San Francisco Bulletin gives the following as the shipments of produce from Port- 
land to San Francisco of the articles enumerated for the first nine months of the current 
year: apples, 30,149 boxes; butter, 508 packages; Hour, 400,720 50-pound Backs; 
hides, 3,751; salmon, 15,000 packages; wheat, 37,010 sacks; wool, 3,118 bales. Many 
articles of minor importance are not embraced in the list. 

Tne trade of Portland with interior points on the Columbia and Willamette rivers 
engages the services constantly of twelve or fifteen river steamers. As a distributing 
center, with convenient wnarves aud warehouses for reshipping and packing, trade 
radiates in every direction, supplying the extensive mining, agricultural, and lumbering, 
regions of the State and surrounding Territories. 

in a business point of view, Portland of the present day is the second city of import- 
ance on the Pacific coast. Situated near the confluence of two great rivers, and being 
the only outlet to the sea afforded to the extensive regions drained by the Columbia 
audits tributaries, its commercial importance in the future is not a matter of speculation. 

Immigrant Route 3 to Oregon. 

From New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other cities of the Atlantic sea-board 
there are two routes of travel by which emigrants can reach Oregon. 

First. By railway across the continent. Emigrant trains leave the principal eastern 
cities daily for the West. Through tickets to San Francisco can be procured at any of 
the cities of the Atlantic coast making the connection with the main line of road at 
Chicago or Omaha. The trip is usually made in from six to seven days from New 
York, and in proportionate time from other places. Kates of fare are low, and expenses 
on the route may be made very reasonable by every person or family supplying them- 
selves with provisions at the starting point. 

From San Francisco the emigraut will reach Oregon in about four days, by steamer, 
at reduced rates of fare for steerage passengers. If the emigrant wishes to do so he ean 
leave the Pacific railroad at Kel.ton, travel thence by stage to Umatilla, in Oregon, thence 
by river steamer to Portland. From Umatilla to Portland emigrants will be carried at 
half the usual fare. 

Second. The route by way of the Isthmus in ocean steamers to San Francisco. The 
trip by this route consumes usually about thirty days, and is probably the cheapest of 
the two. From San Francisco to Portland, by steamer, the same as in other cases. 

From any point in California emigrauts may travel overland to Oregon by stage, con- 
suming from five to six days in summer and twelve days in winter in making the trip 
from Sacramento to Portland. To persons desirous of locating in southern Oregon this 
route offers some advantages, saving distance and expense. 

Miscellaneous Nojes- Stock Raising. 

The facilities which exist in Oregon for raising stock have been mentioned heretofore 
in connection with the soil and climate. But in order to illustrate those facilities vnore 
clearly, reference is had to the statistics of the Government contained in the census 
reports of 18G0 ; and a comparison drawn between the cost of raising stock in Oregon, 
on the northwest coast, and in Maine, on the northeast coast of the United States, both 
States being situated in about the same latitude. Maine produced in 1860 075,710 tons 
of hay, feeding 8'J0,148 head of stock, embracing horses, cattle, and sheep. Oregon the 
same year produced 26,411 tons of hay, feeding 207,025 head of stock. The average 
consumption of hay for each animal in Maine was 2,197 pounds against 197 pounds con- 
sumed in Oregon. Estimating the hay to be worth $6 per ton, the cost of wintering an 
animal in Maine was $6 59; in Oregon 59 cents, a difference of $6 per head. The 
animals in Maine were worth $15,437,533, or $17 34 each. The stock in Oregon was 
worth $6,272,892, or $23 49 each; a difference of $6 15 per head, to which add the 
difference of $6 for feed, and the result is $12 15 net value in favor of each head of 
stock owned in Oregon that year, over and above the net value of each head owned in 
Maine. 

The difference would be greater even than this if the expense and labor of housing y 
and feeding out the hay were taken into account. And when it is remembered that hay 
does not constitute the entire feed of stock in cold climates, but that grain, straw, 
ruta bagas, &c. , form important items, the disadvantage under which Maine labors 
appears still worse. 

Ilealthfulncss of tlic Climate. 

The experience of the early missionaries, the employes of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany, and the American settlers that followed them, during the course of a period of 
thirty years, is that the climate of Oregon is a healthy one. In comparing the rates of 



10 

mortality in the Pacific States with that of some of the States east of the Rocky mount- 
ains, the following facts are obtained: The deaths in Arkansas in 1860, were at the rate 
of one person out of every 48 ; Massachusetts and Louisiana lost one in 57 ; Illinois and 
Indiana, one in 87; Kansas, one in 68; Vermont, the healthiest State on the Atlantic 
slope, lost one in 92 ; California lost one in 101 ; Oregon, one in 172 ; and Washington 
Territory, one in 228. The difference in favor of the climate of the Pacific coast is 
really greater than the figures make it; for a great many persons afflicted with incurable 
■complaints have gone there in the hope of obtaining some sort of relief. 

Oregon Horses in Kansas. — The Ottawa (Kansas) Republic has the following item : 

"Mr.W. C. Myerhas just arrived from Ashland Mills, Oregon, with a drove of two hundred horses, 
and is now pasturing them within two miles of this place. _ These horses were raised in the Oregon 
mountains, and have yet to get their first feed of hay or grain. Mr. M. has been five months making 
the trip." 

From the Oregon Statesman, October 21, 1SG9. 

"There are on Howell prairie, in Marion county, six men living close together, who this year har- 
vested an aggregate of 315 acres of wheat, yielding 10,846 bushels, or nearly 34i bushels per acre. 
This has been a poor wheat season, and Howell prairie is no better than the rest of Marion county. 
One of the same men, A. B. Simmons, selected six acres from his forty of oats, and measures up from 
the six acres 600 bushels." 

Governor Stevens, in his report to the Secretary of War on the northwestern railroad 
survey, remarks of the climate west of the Cascade mountains that "in a journey up the 
Chehalis and down the Sound to the straits of Fuca, in March, 1855, I found vegetation 
as far advanced as is usual in May at New York. Strawberries were beginning to flower, 
and many summer birds had arrived. Indeed, the mildness of the winter makes the 
prairies more green and beautiful at that season than in the summer; and up to the end 
of December, in 1853, I found several flowers still blooming about Vancouver." And 
of the great plains of the Columbia he says: "After October 1 there is a fall growth of 
grass, especially where the surface has been burned over, and we found the hills near the 
Okanagon in October, and near the Walla Walla in November, covered with the richest 
green herbage. As early as February 19, 1854, Lieutenant Grover found the grass 
springing up plentifully on the Spokane plain, while the forests he just left north and 
east of that river were obstructed by deep snows." 

J. Ross Browne, in his late report on the mineral resources of the States and Terri- 
tories west of the Rocky mountains, speaking of the State of Oregon, says : 

" This is peculiarly an agricultural and fruit-growing State, though by no means deficient in 
valuable mineral resources. Possessing a climate of unrivaled salubrity, abounding in vast tracts 
of rich, arable lands, heavily timbered throughout its mountain ranges, watered by innumerable 
springs and streams, and subject to none of the drawbacks arising from the chilling winds and 
seasons of aridity which prevail further south, it is justly considered the most favored region of 
the Pacific slope, as a home for an agricultural, fruit-growing, and manufacturing population. 

" The wonderful richness of the valleys, the extraordinary inducements to settlement by families, 
the beauty of the scenery, and healthfuiness of the climate, must soon attract large immigrations. 

" The writer has traveled this State from the Columbia river to the southern boundary, and can 
safely assert that there is no equal extent of country on the Pacific slope abounding in such a vari- 
ety of attractions to those who seek pleasant homes. The Willamette, theUmpqua, Rogue river, 
and many other valleys, are regions unrivaled for farming and stock-raising." 

Extract from an address delivered by Hon. A. J. Dufnr, late President of the Oregon State Agricultural 
Society, before the American Institute Farmers' Club, in New York city, September 25th, 1869. 

" Allow me to cite some well-authenticated facts to prove the fertility of our Oregon lands. In 
Lynn county, as president of the agricultural society of the State, I had the pleasure of award- 
ing the premium to a farmer who raised 82 bushels of oats to the acre, weighing 43 pounds per 
bushel; for the best 10 acres in oats, a premium for 78 bushels per acre, weight 41 pounds per 
bushel; for the best 10 acres of wheat, showing 4S bushels per acre. And to another farmer a pre- 
mium for a field of oats, measuring 85 bushels to the acre. In Marion county the average yield 
of wheat is 33? bushels per acre. I have known 3,500 bushels grown on 69^ acres, and the grain 
weighed 68 pounds per bushel." 

From the Oregon Statesman, November 23, 1869. 

" Strawberries in November. — Mr. John Durham has brought to town specimens of November 
vegetation and fruitage very surprising even for this valley. Wild strawberries in bloom, and with 
the fruit perfectly ripe, form the chief attraction. Blackberry blossoms, oak buds bursting into 
leaf, wild roses in full bloom, pea vines in blossom and bearing peas — these are the strongest proofs 
that we can give of the boasted mildness of the Oregon climate. During the last few weeks we have 
had very heavy rains, but much of the time the temperature has been warm as that of April. 
We have for two months past heard very wintry reports from the Atlantic States in the same lati- 
tude, which have been ice and snow-bound, while we have had scarce frosts enough to kill the 
dahlias and tomatoes. J.'n our gardens the roses are blooming stitl, the daisies are coming out in 
full force, the gilly flowers are flourishing, and even the verbenas continue in bloom. The tender- 
est house plants have kept safe in the shelter of an open porch, There have been no frosts for a 
month past, and those that occurred were few and light." 



Weatlier Record Tor Oregon. 

Fromthe Daily Orecioninn of November 18, 1S69. 

"As the impression is abroad in many of the States, as also in Oregon, that Orecron has a greater 
number of stormy or rainy days than any other State, I send you the inclosed table of the weather 
■which I have kepr daily for the past ten years, beginning April, 1858; which table will show that 
Orejron has a. yearly average of 65 per cent, of days without rain or snow. Besides this a Large 
proportion of the days recorded under the head of 'sunshine and showers' were days in which 
persons could follow their out-door vocations without serious inconvenience; under the head 
of 'pleasant' no rain or snow fell between sunrise and sunset; under the head of ' rainy ' there 
was no sunshine, and rain fell most of the time; under the head of ' sunshine and showers,' 
are included days when a part or half of the day would be pleasant and part rainy. I am aware 
that rain and snow fell during the time between sunset and sunrise, also that many days that are 
marked rainy the night would be clear and pleasant. I think one will offset the other. I have 
also noted some of the extremes during some years, which you can publish if you think them 
deserving of notice. I think the table will bo appreciated by persons interested in or inquiring 
about Oregon : 



1 






Sunshine 


| 








Sunshine 




Months. 


Pleasant. 


Rainy. 


and 


Snowed. 


Months. 


Pleasant. 


Rainy. 


and 


Snowed. 








shower. 










shower. 




1853. 








i 


1SG2. 












20 


6 


4 


- 


i Jan'ry... 


20 


2 


1 


8 


May 


15 


6 


10 


- 


I Feb'ry... 


17 


4 


3 


A 




23 


3 


4 


- 


March- 


13 


7 


9 


O 


July 


29 


1 


1 


- 


April 


19 


4 


5 


2 


August... 


25 


2 


4 


- 


i May 


17 


4 


10 


- 


Sept 


21 


5 


4 


- 




21 


2 


7 


- 


October... 


18 


6 


7 


- 


July 


23 


1 


7 


- 


Nov 


19 


8 


a 


i 


1 August.. 


28 


2 


1 


- 


Dec 


10 


11 


6 


4 


7.C/ 


25 
23 
28 


4 
4 
1 


1 
4 
1 


- 




Total... 


180 


-H 


43 


4 ! 


_ 












i Dec. , 
Total... 
1863. 


16 


12 


3 


- 




18 


9 


4 




1859. 


250 


47 


52 


16 


Jan'ry 










Feb'ry.... 


4 


10 


6 


S 










March.... 


4 


12 


9 


G 


i Jan'ry... 


11 


17 


1 


2 


April 


21 


o 
O 


6 


- 


! Feb'ry... 


10 


7 


8 


3 


May 


20 


8 


3 


- 


March... 


19 


6 


4 


2 




- 


25 


5 


- 


, April.... 


15 


8 


6 


1 


July 


29 


- 


2 


- 


1 May 


22 


2 


i 


- 


Auscust.... 


25 


3 


3 


- 


• June 


27 


1 


2 


- 


Sept 


20 


8 


2 


- 


! July 


27 


2 


2 


- 


October... 


oo 


6 


3 


- 


| August.. 


29 


- 


2 


- 


Nov 


18 


8 


3 


2 


Sept 


19 


4 


7 


- 




22 


6 


1 


1 


Oct 

| Dec 

Total... 


20 
It 

7 


8 
10 

17 


o 
6 

7 


- 




Total... 


228 


73 


47 


17 


- 


1860. 
Jan'ry 










220 


82 


55 


8 


19 


10 


1 


1 


1864. 










Feb'ry..... 


16 


9 


3 


1 


Jan'ry.... 


15 


8 


3 


5 


March 


18 


6 


6 


1 


Feb'ry.... 


24 


4 


1 


- 


April 


15 


4 


11 


- 


March.... 


14 


8 


9 


- 


May 


15 


8 


8 


- 


April 


23 


5 


2 


- 




25 


2 


3 


- 




29 


- 


2 


- 


July 


27 


1 


3 


- 




19 


4 


7 


- 


August... 


24 


3 


4 


- 


July 


28 


- 


3 


- 


Sept 


23 


5 


2 


- 


August.. 


27 


- 


4 


- 


October... 


17 


10 


4 


_ 


Sept 


17 


6 


7 


- 


Nov 


18 


8 


4 


_ 


Oct 


25 


3 


3 


- 


Dec 


19 


8 


2 


2 


Nov.., 
nop 


16 
15 


11 
11 


3 
3 


2 




Total... 


2-36 


74 


52 


5 






















Total- 
ises. 


252 


60 


47 


7 












18C1. 










Jan'ry 


16 


6 


G 


3 


Jan'ry.... 


17 


11 


2 


1 


Feb'ry 


11 


12 


2 


- 


Feb'ry.... 


18 


6 


3 


1 


Marco 


19 


2 


9 


1 


March.... 


13 


10 


4 


4 


April 


1G 


5 


9 


- 


April 


20 


5 


5 


- 


May 


18 


5 


8 


- 


May 


25 


3 


3 


- 


June 


17 


6 


7 


- 




22 


3 


5 


- 


July 


29 


- 


2 


- 


July 


26 


1 


4 


- 


August ... 


27 


1 


3 


. 


August.. 


25 


- 


6 


- 


Sept. 


26 


•> 


9 


- 




13 


1 


10 


- 


October... 


19 


6 


G 


. 


Oct 


23 


- 


8 


- 




8 


16 


4 


2 


Nov 


1! 


11 


5 


- 


Dec 


15 


9 


• > 


4 


Dec 

Total.. 


11 


8 


8 


4 


Total... 


224 • 


70 


Gl 


10 


227 


85 


63 


10 



12 



TABLE-Continued. 



Months. 


Pleasant. 


Rainy. 


Sunshine 

and 
shower. 


Snowed. 


Months. 


Pleasant. Rainy. 


Sunshine 

and 
shower. 


Snowed. 


1866. 

Jan'ry.... 
Feb'ry.... 
March.... 

April 

May 

July 

August.. 

Sept 

Oct , 

Dec 


19 
17 
15 
14 
18 
14 
30 
26 
29 
17 
15 
16 


7 
3 
11 
7 
5 
6 

i 

9 
11 
13 


o 

8 ' 
5 
9 
8 
10 
1 
4 
1 
5 
4 
2 


3 


1868. 

Jan'ry.... 
Feb'ry.... 
March.... 

April 

May 

July 

August.. 
Sept 

Oct 

Nov.., 
Dec... 

Total... 


23 
21 
14 
18 
19 
23 
30 
31 
29 
27 
20 
17 


2 

3 

3 

4 

3 ' 

1 

1 

i 

l 

6 

5 


1 

4 
12 
8 
9 
6 

3 

4 
8 


5 
1 

2 

1 


Total.. 


230 


73 


59 


3 


272 | 30 


55 


9 


1867. 
Jan'ry.... 
Feb'ry.... 
March.... 

May 

July 

August.. 

Sept 

Oct 

Dec... 


16 
10 
27 
19 
23 
25 
18 
30 
26 
20 
19 
11 


10 
12 
2 
4 
2 
3 
3 

3 

5 

8 

13 


2 
5 
1 
7 
6 
2 
10 
1 
1 
6 
3 
5 


3. 

1 

1 

2 


RECAPITULATION. 


Years. 


Pleasant. 


Rainy. 


Sunshine 

and 
shower. 


Snowed. 


1858*.,. 

1859 , 

1860 

1861 

1862 

1863 

1864, 

1865 , , 

1866, 

1867 

1868. 

Total- 


180 

228 
232 
224 
250 
220 
232 
227 
230 
244 
272 


48 
73 
72 
70 
47 
82 
60 
65 
73 
65 
30 


43 
47 
57 
61 
52 
55 
47 
63 
' 59 
49 
55 


4 

17 

5 

10 

16 

8 

7 

10 

3 

7 

9 


Total.. 


244 


65 


49 


7 


2559 


685 588 


96 



* Nine months. 

Sixty-five per cent, of the above days are without rain or snow. 

Notes. — Ice formed December 2, 1858. In 1859 ponds were frozen over at times till March 1 — ice 
never over two inches thick; very little cold weather in December, 1859; no ice to speak of. Jan- 
uary 24. 1860, the ground froze for the first time this winter: first ice, January 26. Ice and frost all 
gone February 1. I planted potatoes February 6; on the 17th planted onion sets and onion seeds ; 
April 26, planted corn. January 2,1862, Columbia river frozen over so that the ocean steamers 
could not ran; thermometer 16° below freezing point. January 8, snow a foot deep; excellent 
sleighing. On 17th, Willamette frozen hard enough to cross on foot. On 24th, ice gone out of 
Willamette river. March 10, snow all disappeared. January 7, 1863, Columbia river closed with 
ice. On the 11th, Willamette closed over so as to stop the steamers running to Oregon City until 
the 23th. No rain fell after the 1st of July until September 3, sixty-three days, and then none 
again till October 23. THOMAS FRAZAR. 

United States Senate Chamber, 

Washington, February 1, 1871. 

Since the foregoing facts and statistics were compiled, all of which I can substantially 
indorse, we have completed seventy-five miles of railroad from Portland south through 
the Willamette valley toward California, fifty miles more of which will be completed 
during the next spring and summer. Another railroad is chartered with a land grant to be 
built from Portland, on the opposite side of the river, up the valley, which will probably 
intersect at the head of the valley with the one already being built. Also, there is a 
charter for one to Astoria. The Northern Pacific Railroad Company have already 
commenced the construction of their line on the Pacific side, which is to extend from 
Lake Superior to Portland, and from thence to Puget sound, in Washington Territory. 
Believing Oregon now presents great inducements to those who desire to better their 
condition by emigrating to a young and vigorous State, where they will find rich lands, 
pure water, a mild and healthful climate, large crops of grain, fruit, and other neces- 
sities and luxuries of life; these, with the mineral resources, the abundance of game 
and fish, offer a tempting field that few if any other sections of our country present. I 
recommend the foregoing to the careful perusal of all who chance to receive one of these 
circulars, which are republished for gratuitous distribution, and can be had by applica- 

tlon t0 H. W. CORBETT. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 







